Page 62 of Consort's Dragon
As she watched the spreading dark clouds, fiery red boulders rained down.Literal fireballs.
Luckily none hit the roof, but small embers did flutter in their wake, causing Avera to sway and dodge lest one of them catch fire to her outfit.
Klothi chuckled as she strode past Avera.“Fear not, the gown cannot catch fire.”
So she claimed.Avera preferred to keep shuffling out of the embers’ path even as she saw the fiery motes landing on the guardians and extinguishing without leaving a mark.
The viziers linked their hands and began to chant, their monotone in a language Avera couldn’t understand.Its low tenor and the way the air around her electrified sent a shiver through her.Now what?
To her relief, the magic they called upon cooled and freshened the air.Avera hadn’t realized how scorched each lungful of breath felt until she could draw air without pain.The spell also acted as a shield, the glowing embers that hit it extinguishing harmlessly.
With her safety less in question, Avera once more glanced upward at the volcano, watching the billowing smoke and ash-filled clouds that dropped lower and lower as they fattened, occasionally glowing orange as a flaming boulder emerged.
The vibration underfoot intensified, and it took Titus murmuring, “Looks like we’re getting new ditches,” for her to notice the ground below split apart.The plains literally cracked, creating new ravines that ran between the channels, resulting in a patchwork effect that glowed orange as lava began to fill them.They were now trapped at the shrine.Avera saw no clear path back to the ravine and the safety across it.
The air thickened, not with heat or smoke, but something else.Something that made her flesh tingle.A sudden concussive blast knocked her off her feet.She hit the rooftop in a daze and lay on her back, blinking at the smoke-filled sky as three more shock waves radiated from the spewing and very angry mountain.
The trembling continued so she remained prone.A good thing she did, or she might have missed it.
From the ash cloud overhead swooped a tiny, winged beast.
A dragon had hatched, a flying beast soon joined by three others.
Despite her trepidation, wonder filled her at the sight of them swooping and trilling, their joy obvious until they spotted the humans.
As if of one mind, the quartet suddenly arrowed downward, seeming as if they would attack only to suddenly alight gracefully on the roof’s ramparts.They perched in a line, the four of them sporting different shades of scales: opalescent, deep green, dark blue, and a sandy tan.
Avera sat up and gaped, for up close they weren’t as small as expected.Probably waist-high on her and, unlike a newborn, their gazes were alert.
Unnerving.
Dare she say judging?
They stared at the humans before them.
The tan dragon cocked its head.You must be the ones who set us free.
The alien voice startled, and she wasn’t alone in hearing it for Titus stepped forward.“Greetings.I am Emperor Titus Gugerknaut.”
Humans and their titles.The voice she heard this time had a slightly different cadence from the first.
“Welcome back, Mighty Ones.”Klothi bowed, as did the other viziers.“Please accept this offering to appease your hunger.”She waved to the sheep.
We would rather have news.It feels as if we were kept in stasis far longer than usual.
“There were complications with your return, oh Mighty Ones.”Klothi remained bowed.“I will gladly explain once you’ve filled your bellies.”
The guardians must be able to hear them.Odd how Titus didn’t mention they were also blooded.He’d given the impression it was a royal trait.
The dragon with shimmering green scales stepped forward and flicked a forked tongue at Titus.The last Gugerknaut I knew was a blacksmith, not an emperor.
“Things have changed since your time.”
We do not like change.And why have you birthed us all in one place?The blue-hued dragon turned its head left and right, eyeing its brethren with annoyance.
“The other continents weren’t favorable for your rebirth, Mighty Ones.We thought it—” Klothi started to say but the dragon whose white scales shimmered with color interrupted.
Who is that female?Her scent is familiar.
